


Making Home

by pterawaters



Series: Coming Home [2]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Dysphoria, Kid Fic, M/M, Post Mpreg, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-25 21:43:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3826093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pterawaters/pseuds/pterawaters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve goes home to Hawaii to find the man who killed his father, only to find the father of Steve's son instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Making Home

Steve takes the photo out of his wallet for the third time during the flight, looking at it again. He knows it's old, and no longer true-to-life, but it's all he has for now.

Beside Steve, Ensign Lee asks, "That your son?"

"Yeah," Steve replies, tilting the picture so Lee can get a better look. 

"How old is he?"

"Two." Steve frowns and puts the picture back in his wallet where it'll be safe. "He doesn't really know me."

Lee nods. "My youngest one doesn't recognize me either. I figure I'm making the world a better place for her, earning a living for our family. She'll get to know me eventually."

"Yeah," Steve says, though he doesn't believe it. JD didn't get to know his grandfather before John was killed. Who was to say Steve would survive long enough to really get to know him?

When Steve lands at Hickam and the Governor offers him a job, Steve almost takes her up on it. He's been thinking about moving into civilian life ever since JD was born, but he's wanted to find the Hesse brothers first. Steve doesn't let himself wonder if he might've caught them earlier and saved his father had JD not been born. It's a pointless thing to wonder.

In the end, Steve doesn't like Governor Jameson's ulterior motives. He tells her he'll think about it.

He doesn't have time to think about it now. Steve has to get to the funeral home before the service starts without him. Riding in the cab through the streets of Honolulu is eerie, because he hasn't been here in so long. Steve thinks he could've come back here when he had to take leave from the service, but ultimately he didn't. JD was born in San Diego, so Steve could be close to Coronado and keep his ear to the ground until he was recovered enough to be back in the field.

Now that Dad is dead, Steve thinks he probably should've attempted a visit while he could.

The cab pulls up to the funeral home just ten minutes before the service is supposed to start, so Steve rushes in, confronted by a wall of dark navy police uniforms. Of course Dad's colleagues have come to see him off. Steve steps around them, looking for his family. He doesn't see them, but he hears a little voice call out, "Daddy!"

Steve turns and JD is running toward him, his little arms open wide, and Mary half a step behind him. JD remembers him! Steve crouches down and catches JD, wrapping his arms around his son's tiny little body. He's not nearly as small as he was last time Steve saw him in person, so as Steve scoops JD up into his arms and stands, he says, "Whoa! Look at how big you got, buddy!"

"JD's Daddy," the boy says, patting Steve's face with both chubby hands. "JD and Mary flew on a airplane."

"You did?" Steve asks, wiping his wet eyes and accepting the hug with one arm when Mary gives it to him. He addresses Mary when he asks her, "How was the flight?"

"Long," she says, her eyes red. "JD was a trooper."

"That's my man," Steve says, giving his son another hug. "Just a little while longer and then we can go rest."

The funeral is brutal, as Steve suspected it would be, and then Steve, Mary, and Deb get JD back to the hotel for a nap. Once JD is asleep, Steve wants to keep staring at his angelic little face, but Steve knows that he can't. He has to find Victor Hesse as soon as possible. He turns to Mary and asks, "You'll watch him for a couple hours?"

"A couple hours, a couple years," she says, shrugging. For a second, Steve is afraid Mary will refuse his request, but then she chuckles and shakes her head. Waving him off, she says, "Don't worry about it, bro. I got him."

Steve sighs with relief and leaves the hotel room as quietly as he can manage. When Steve finds Victor Hesse, he's a dead man.

The last person Steve expects to run into at the crime scene is the father of his son.

"Danny?"

Danny drops his gun when Steve does. "Steve? From three years ago?"

"Almost, yeah," Steve says, fighting away his body's attempts at blushing. "Hey."

"What are you doing here?" Danny asks, putting his gun back in his holster. "You can't be here. It's a crime scene."

"You live in Hawaii now?" Steve asks. Steve kept track of Danny for the first year after JD was born, just in case he changed his mind about telling Danny JD was his. During the last year, though, Steve stopped checking in, figuring he'd be able to find Danny again if he ever needed to. "What happened to Jersey?"

"My ex and our daughter moved here with the step dad," Danny says, taking Steve by the elbow like he's going to escort Steve out of his dad's garage. Steve gets distracted by the fact that Danny has a daughter. How did Steve miss the fact that Danny has a daughter? Steve wonders how old she is. "I kinda had to follow." Danny frowns. "Seriously, what are you doing here?"

"It's my dad's house," Steve explains, watching as Danny realizes the implication of that relationship.

"Oh, man. I'm really sorry for your loss." Danny clutches at Steve's elbow again, like he's expecting Steve to just let himself be led away from the toolbox full of whatever investigation got Dad killed. "Now, let's go and I won't have to arrest you."

A thought occurs to Steve. If he does take the job the Governor offered him, Steve will be able to live in the same place as his son's father. Danny could know JD, too. That's presuming that Steve wants Danny to know JD, which Steve hasn't made a decision about since he first realized he was pregnant. His excuse has always been that he barely knows Danny, and has no idea whether or not he'd be a good father. Still, Steve has fond memories of Danny, and obviously Danny must not be totally inept as a father, because he moved 5000 miles to be near his daughter.

Steve calls the Governor. Steve takes the job, and he ropes Danny into helping him with it. They find and kill Victor Hesse, and Steve feels like he could actually move JD here without worrying about his safety.

And then Steve listens to Danny talk with his daughter, and how he calls himself by the nickname she gave him, and Steve knows that he has to do the right thing. After Kono and Chin have headed home, Steve asks Danny, "Do you have a little bit of time?"

Danny crosses his arms over his chest and raises an eyebrow. "What for?"

"I want to introduce you to someone," Steve says. "Please?"

Giving Steve a suspicious look, Danny eventually shrugs. "Yeah, okay. Where are we headed?"

"My hotel," Steve says, rolling his eyes when Danny smirks. "Not like that. Come on. It's important."

Danny nods, following Steve away from HQ and down into the parking lot. He takes Steve's directions and ten minutes later, they're at the hotel.

Noting the late hour, Steve tells Danny, "You're going to have to be quiet, okay?"

"What, are we meeting a mouse?" Danny asks, but his tone is quieter than usual, so Steve takes that as a good sign.

He opens the door to his room and goes in quietly. Mary's sitting in the corner armchair, reading a book. She looks up, her eyes going wide when she sees that Steve isn't alone.

"Hey," Steve says, his voice just above a whisper. "Mary, this is my new partner Danny. Danny, my sister Mary." He asks Mary, "Can we get a minute?"

"You can have all night," Mary says, standing up and shaking Danny's hand before heading for the door. "I'm serious. Don't come get me from my room until like noon tomorrow."

Steve chuckles and says, "Night, Mary."

As Mary leaves, Danny asks, "Was that who I was supposed–"

"Shh." Steve leads Danny further into the hotel room, so they can see around the corner. There, sleeping with his head mashed into the mattress and his butt in the air, is Steve's son. "Here's who I wanted you to meet."

Danny sucks in a surprised breath. "Wh-who's is he? Your sister's?"

Steve shakes his head. "He's mine."

Danny looks like his heart is breaking. "Two years old?"

Steve nods.

Swallowing loudly, Danny sniffs and rubs at his nose. "He looks just like Grace did when she was two."

"Huh," Steve says softly. "Imagine that."

Pressing his lips together, Danny nods. He gets it. A moment later, Danny asks, "What's his name?"

"JD," Steve says. "Well, that's what we call him. Short for Jonathan Daniel."

"You–" Danny sighs, a slight smile playing over his face. "You named him after me?"

"Yeah." Steve gives Danny a small smile.

Danny crouches next to the bed, resting his chin on the edge of the mattress and just watching JD sleep. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Shaking his head, Steve sits down on the bed, putting a grounding hand on JD’s lower leg through the covers. “I barely knew you,” Steve admits. “And I wasn’t even sure I was going to keep him until my sister and my aunt offered to help.”

Danny nods, but he’s frowning. His eyes dart over to look at Steve for a brief second before he goes back to staring at JD. “You’re supposed to notify the Company if this happens.”

“I didn’t want to get you in trouble,” Steve says, but then he scoffs at himself. “No. That’s not true. I just … I didn’t want anyone to know.”

“But look at him,” Danny says, backing up and gesturing with his hands. “He’s beautiful! Why wouldn’t you want everyone to know about our son?”

Steve shakes his head. “You wouldn’t understand.”

JD shifts in his sleep, murmuring and turning his head the other way. Still frowning, Danny stands up and heads toward the door, waving at Steve to follow him. Steve figures he owes Danny this conversation at least, so he gets up and follows Danny to the alcove near the door. 

Danny puts his hand on Steve’s arm, just briefly enough that it makes Steve’s skin tingle when Danny takes it away again. “Please, explain to me what I wouldn’t understand.”

“Look.” Steve crosses his arms and looks away from Danny as he tries to gather his thoughts. “When people first meet me, do you know what first impression they get?”

Sighing, Danny looks down and nods. “That you’re an Alpha.”

“Yeah. And I’ve had to work hard for that, Danny. I don’t…” Steve points to his bicep. “This didn’t come naturally. This took _years_ of suppressants and hitting the gym six days a week. When people find out the truth about JD? They think I’m someone I’m not.”

Danny’s lips push over to the left side of his face and he puts his hands on his hips for a moment. Then, he says, “Well, if you don’t want him–“

“That’s not what I said,” Steve insists, taking a step into Danny’s space. “I love my son, Danny. I just…” Steve’s not quite sure how to explain this part, especially to an Alpha, to someone who’s probably never hated his body. “I don’t like thinking about how he got here.”

Nodding, Danny licks his lips, biting his lower one before asking, “The pregnancy?”

“Yeah,” Steve replies.

It takes a long moment for Danny to mull over this information, and Steve watches him stare at a point on the floor and breathe slowly like he’s consciously controlling it. Eventually, Danny asks, “If it was that rough a concept for you, why wouldn’t you, um, end the pregnancy?”

Steve’s heart hurts at the question, but he answers it. “I was on heavy suppressants. I didn’t know I was pregnant until I was almost six months along.”

“Six months?” Danny asks, pressing his hand over his mouth when his fails to regulate the volume of his voice. “Sorry. Six months before you knew? Didn’t you have to get cleared for active duty after going into heat?”

“False negative,” Steve says, remembering how relieved he was when the test came back. He’d already been out of the field two weeks, unable to keep eyes on his search for Victor and Anton Hesse. “I didn’t gain any weight, didn’t feel any kicks, nothing until I was six months.”

“Wow.” Danny looks up, meeting Steve’s eyes. “Well, I’m pissed you didn’t tell me earlier, but I’m–I'm glad you told me now. I want to be in his life.”

“I’m moving him here to Honolulu,” Steve tells Danny with a careful smile. “We’ll work it out.”

Danny nods, rubbing his chin with one hand. With a little chuckle, he says, “You know, the two of us working together, having a kid together? People are going to expect this,” he points a finger back and forth between himself and Steve, “to happen eventually.”

“I–“ Steve says, floundering for words. “What?”

“I know, stupid, right?” Danny says with a laugh. “Thinking that we’d ever…”

Steve doesn’t think it’s that stupid, but he doesn’t say so. “Yeah. I mean, you’ve got your job with the Company, right? No exclusive relationships?”

Danny shrugs one shoulder. “Nah. Not anymore.”

Steve snaps his finger and points at Danny. “Right! They don’t operate in Hawaii.”

“No, they do,” Danny says with a thoughtful nod. “I just, uh, got tired of it, I guess. I mean, it was a good way to get over my ex, but after that…” Danny shrugs. “You know?”

Steve doesn’t know. He’s only ever experienced a heat from the Omega side of the situation. Still, he can’t help but ask, “When did you quit?”

Danny scratches his eyebrow and says, “I don’t know. About three years ago?”

Steve almost asks whether he was Danny’s last Omega, but realizes he doesn’t want to know the answer either way. It might make things even more awkward, trying to work together.

Instead, he says to Danny, “Come by tomorrow? Meet JD while he’s awake?”

“Yeah, sure,” Danny replies, a bright smile spreading across his face. “I’d like that.”

“Okay.” Steve nods again and he’s not sure how to say goodbye to Danny. A wave doesn't feel like enough, and a handshake feels too formal. A hug feels right, but Steve's sure he and Danny aren't there yet. Steve settles for grasping Danny's hand and squeezing it briefly. "We'll see you tomorrow."

Danny smiles and squeezes back. "Tomorrow." 

After Danny leaves, Steve lays down on the bed next to JD and watches his son sleep. God, he hopes he's made the right decision, that he's not being selfish moving JD away from the family he's known for the past two years. Steve hopes he and JD, and yes even Danny, will become the sort of family Steve will be proud of. 

~*~

"No, I wanna be there," Danny says, getting into his car and starting the engine. "He's my son, too."

"It's just a nanny interview," Steve insists, like it's the most boring thing in the world. Danny really doesn't understand Steve's priorities sometimes.

"Yeah, and I want to make sure the person taking care of JD isn't a psycho, alright?" Danny pulls out of his complex's parking lot and heads in the direction of Steve's house. "I'll be there in a minute."

Danny hangs up before Steve can argue with him. Sure, Danny's only known about JD for two weeks, but that doesn't mean he's not going to be involved. Steve should know better. He's seen how involved Danny is with Grace, if only because of the multiple times per day Danny talks to his daughter on the phone. 

Danny sighs. He doesn't know how to tell Grace about her little brother. How is he supposed to explain the job he used to have? She's only eight years old. Sure, she's an Alpha, and she can smell when Omegas are going into heat, but it doesn't mean anything to her yet. Danny would like to keep her unaware of it as long as possible. That's his right as a father, isn't it?

By the time Danny gets to Steve's house (the house Steve inherited from his father), there's already an unfamiliar car in the driveway. Danny parks and takes a deep breath, telling himself it's okay. He doesn't have to get Alpha-stupid and over-protective when someone new comes into his son's life. _He's_ still someone new in JD's life, for God's sake.

This fact is highly apparent when Danny lets himself into Steve's house and JD looks up from where he's playing on the carpet. He gives Danny this wary look, like he's not quite sure about Danny, and calls to the other room, "Daddy! Danno here!"

Danny has to admit that JD's adoption of Grace's nickname for him outweighs the time it's taking for JD to warm up to him. "Hey, buddy," Danny says, crouching down to get to JD's level. "What're you playing?"

JD doesn't answer, but he holds up a toy airplane. 

"Airplanes!" Danny says. "Cool! Can I play?"

JD smiles and nods. He picks up a block and holds it out for Danny. "For Danno."

"Thanks, JD," Danny says, taking the block and sitting down closer to JD. "What should this be? Another airplane?"

"It's a boat." JD points to the throw rug he's playing on, which has a stripe of blue running through it. "A tug boat!"

Danny puts his boat down in the "water" and starts pushing it when he hears Steve saying, "So, that's the kitchen. Let's get JD before we take a look at the rooms upstairs."

When Steve gets into the room, he stops short. Danny lifts his hand. "Hey."

"Mai," Steve says to the young woman who follows him into the room, "this is my partner, Danny."

Mai, who has dark hair and looks like a local girl, waves at Danny. "Hello!"

As Danny stands up and goes to shake her hand, he notices she's an Omega coming off her last heat fairly recently. "Nice to meet you." As Danny drops Mai's hand, he notices Steve giving him a weird look. "What?"

Steve glares at him, which Danny isn't quite sure how to interpret. It's okay, though. He'll badger it out of Steve later.

"So, you've had a lot of childcare experience before?" Danny asks Mai, crossing his arms over his chest.

Mai's eyes go wide and she stammers, "Y-yes?"

"Was that a question?" So far, Danny's unimpressed with this girl.

"Danny," Steve says, his voice a warning that Danny ignores.

"What? It's a simple question. How long have you been taking care of kids?"

"Four years," Mai says, standing up straighter, like she's just realized she's actually taller than Danny. "I have excellent references."

"She does," Steve tells Danny, reaching down to pick up JD and putting him on Steve's hip. "Come on, Mai. Don't worry about him. Let's go see JD's room."

Sometimes, Danny's skin itches at the way Steve treats him. For an Omega, he's _very_ bossy. Danny tries not to think about how similar Steve is, in that regard, to Rachel. If Danny starts thinking down that road, he's going to think about the heat he saw Steve through, and those mental images are just _not great_ for a functioning workplace relationship.

Danny trails after Steve as he shows Mai the house, watching the way Steve interacts with JD as they go. For someone who hasn't spent much time with his son, Steve sure knows how to interact with JD, catching toys before they fall and listening intently whenever JD says something. Eventually, they make their way back to the front door and Steve shows Mai the door, saying, "I'll give you a call tomorrow and let you know, alright?"

"Okay!" she says with a friendly wave.

Steve closes the door and asks JD, "What do you think, bud? You want Mai to come take care of you while Daddy's at work?"

JD doesn't respond, frowning at his airplane and trying to rip the propellor from the nose of the toy. 

"I think that's a no," Danny insists, reaching forward to spin the airplane's wheel. The action distracts JD and he stops trying to rip the toy apart, instead focusing on getting the wheels to spin. "I didn't like her either."

"Are you kidding?" Steve cries, pressing his lips together when JD gives him a shocked look. "Sorry." In a lower voice, Steve begins again. "She's fine. No flags in her background check. And she's the only one with a car, and who can do the hours we need."

"I still don't understand why we can't just put him in daycare." Danny says, following Steve back through to the kitchen. "It was fine for Grace when she was this age. I even said I'd help pay for it, Steve."

"I've already got him in daycare. We need someone to pick him up from daycare when we're on a case." Steve explains, like Danny's an idiot who knows nothing about kids, even though he's the more experienced father here. "You had Rachel." Steve sits JD in his booster seat at the kitchen table. 

"Can't your sister do it?" Danny asks. "You like Aunt Mary, don't you buddy?"

"Yeah," JD says, nodding intently. "Where's Mary?"

Steve shoots Danny another dirty look before turning to JD. "Remember, JD? Mary's Alpha lives in San Diego. Mary had to go home to her."

Shit. Danny knew Steve's Aunt Deb went back to LA, but he didn't know Mary had moved back to the mainland too.

"Can JD go home?" JD asks intently, which makes Steve's shoulders slump.

Steve crouches down, looking JD in the eye. "Remember? You are home. You live here now, with Daddy. And with Danno."

"Oh." JD's face falls and he turns his focus to his hands, pushing them against the tabletop.

When Steve stands up, he looks rough. Danny can't help but meet Steve at the fridge, where Steve pulls out a jug of milk. Danny runs his hand down Steve's arm and says, "Kids are resilient, okay? He'll get used to the move pretty soon."

"Yeah, I know," Steve says, but he still doesn't look happy as he pours JD a glass of milk and snaps a lid onto it. He gives Danny a half-hearted smile and asks, "You staying for dinner?"

Danny doesn't have dinner plans, and he _does_ want to spend more time getting to know JD, but he thinks it might be a little weird to stay for dinner. It feels a little too much like playing house. Still, Danny doesn't want to go home alone. He asks, "I don't know. What are we having?"

Steve opens his freezer and points to a stack of TV dinners. "Take your pick!"

"Oh, no," Danny says, horrified. "Were you going to feed these to our son?"

Steve furrows his eyebrows and points to the meals. "What? They're good. All the important food groups!"

"And enough sodium to kill a horse," Danny insists. He shakes his head and sighs. "I can't let you eat this crap. I'm going to the store and when I come back, I'm cooking dinner."

Steve closes the freezer and asks, "You know how to cook?"

"That surprises you?" Danny asks, daring Steve to make fun of him.

Shaking his head, Steve shrugs. "No, it's good. Thanks."

On the way to the store, Danny tries not to think about how well an Alpha like him and and Omega like Steve would complement each other. 

~*~

After dinner, when all their bellies are full and JD's asleep in his bed, Danny follows Steve to the door. "Thanks for letting me hang out with you guys tonight."

"Thanks for dinner," Steve replies with a loose smile. "Maybe you'll have to teach me to cook like you."

Danny flushes at the mention of spending more time with Steve. "Yeah, I could do that."

Steve nods. "Okay."

It takes Danny far too long to realize he's staring into Steve's eyes. Shit. Danny looks away, rubbing at his face. "So, uh, if you want to hire Mai, that'd be okay. She seemed nice."

Laughing, Steve says, "Oh, so now you like her?"

Danny rolls his eyes, but he says, "I guess I understand your point. We're the only people JD has on this island. It'd be good to have someone else looking out for him." A thought occurs to Danny and he doesn't like it, but he thinks it's probably something he and Steve both need to hear. "At least, until one or both of us starts dating someone, anyway."

For a brief second, Danny thinks he sees Steve's face fall. Danny must be imagining things, though, because Steve smiles with a laugh. "Yeah, that's true!" Nodding once more, Steve says, "I'll set it up. See you at work tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Danny says, making himself step through the threshold and out into the evening. "See you tomorrow."

Danny drives home with the mingled scents of Steve and JD in his nose and his knuckles white as he grips his steering wheel, trying not to turn back around. It's just his instincts trying to dictate Danny's behavior. That's all. 

There's one more turn left before Danny's apartment when his phone rings. It's Rachel's ring tone and Danny really doesn't have the energy to deal with her right now. Still, she wouldn't be calling this late unless it was about Grace. "Hello?"

"Danny," Rachel says, and Danny immediately recognizes the tone in her voice. "You need to–"

Making a U-turn, Danny says, "I'm already on my way. Is Stan there with you?"

"Yeah," Rachel says, panting. "Yes, he's here."

Under his breath, Danny says, "Thank God." After the last four years, there's no way Danny wants to get pulled back into things with Rachel because of a heat she couldn't control. "I'll call you when I'm outside the house."

It takes ten minutes to drive all the way over to Rachel and Stan's neighborhood. Danny hopes he's not too late, that Rachel's been able to hold off long enough to get Gracie out of the house. He dials Rachel's phone, but Stan picks up, a growl in his voice as he asks, "Danny?"

"Yeah," Danny replies. "Hold your horses, Stan. I'm just here for Grace. Rachel's yours."

"Rachel's mine," he repeats, then takes a few deep breaths. "Sorry, Danny. I'll– Grace is on her way out to you now."

"Thanks." Danny hangs up and waits, praying he doesn't have to go in after Grace. He's sure he could lay Stan out if he needed to, but Rachel needs Stan to get through this heat, and Grace doesn't need to see her father beat up her stepfather.

Grace appears, skipping through the open security gate and meeting Danny at the car. "Hi, Danno!"

"Hey, Monkey," Danny says, giving his daughter a hug and walking her around to the passenger side of the car. "Looks like we're having an impromptu sleepover, doesn't it?"

Grace wrinkles her nose and nods. "Mommy's in heat again."

"Yep," Danny replies, unsure how much Grace understands about what's happening. Now that he thinks about it, this is the second time Rachel's had a heat since they moved to Hawaii. She and Stan must be trying to get pregnant. "But we don't have to worry about that. We're going to go to my place and make a big batch of popcorn and watch whatever movie you want!"

"But, Danno. It's a school night!" Grace says as Danny buckles her in, her face a mixture of horrified and excited.

Danny taps a finger on her nose and says, "I know that, Monkey. But something tells me you're not going to fall asleep for awhile."

He closes her door and rounds the car, getting into the driver's seat and starting the drive home. 

"I do kinda feel like I've had one of those coffee drinks Jenny's mom gets us when I go over to her house!"

Danny grimaces. "Remind me to have a chat with Jenny's mom about coffee drinks." Grace doesn't ask any further questions, so Danny doesn't bother explaining how an Omega's pheromones can affect the Alphas in their immediate family, even the ones who are still children. Maybe some day he'll tell her about what it was like that day his mother and his older sister both went into heat on the same day, and how he'd had to run ten miles to his Aunt Harriet's house to burn off the adrenaline rush.

About halfway home, Danny wonders if this isn't a good time for the other talk he's been meaning to have with her. "Hey, can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure," Grace says, her smile bright in the light from the dashboard. "What is it, Danno?"

"Well…" Danny isn't quite sure how to begin. He supposes truth is better than anything else. "About two weeks ago, I found out something big. About our family."

"Is Uncle Matt a pirate?" She asks this like she's been suspecting this for a long time and just wants confirmation.

Danny, for his part, has never heard the Uncle-Matt-is-a-pirate theory, so it takes him a few seconds of floundering before he says, "No. Uh, no, that's not it."

"Am I a princess?"

Danny laughs. "You're _my_ princess, sweetie. Not anyone else's."

"Then what?"

"I, uh," Danny stops at a stoplight and sighs. "You've got a brother. His name is JD."

"A–a brother?" Grace turns in her seat to face Danny, her eyes wide.

"Yes." Danny pulls through the green light. "He's two years old."

"Is Mommy his mommy, too?"

"Uh, no, Monkey. His womb-parent is my friend, Steve." Danny drives into his parking lot and kills the engine. "Like how Mommy is your womb-parent and Bobby's womb-parent is his Daddy?"

Grace nods. "Oh. Okay." She's out of the car and halfway to the door before Danny's even undone his seat belt. 

Inside, Danny gets Grace to put on her pajamas while he makes popcorn and they sit down together in front of Danny's tiny television. Before Danny starts the movie, he asks, "Would you like to meet JD?"

Grace combs through the fur of her stuffed dog, Earnest. After a moment, she speaks up. "Would I have to give him my toys?"

"No, baby," Danny says with a laugh. "He's too little for your toys. He has his own, okay?"

Grace appears to mull this over for a moment before she nods. "Okay."

"Okay." Danny gathers Grace into his arms and starts the movie. 

~*~

Steve turns on the music in his truck so he can get JD's voice out of his head. It's only the second day Steve has left him at the daycare, so it's understandable that JD would freak out when Steve had to leave. It doesn't mean Steve has to like it.

Danny's place is on the way downtown to the new HQ Governor Jameson set up for Steve's task force. Steve decides to stop by, see if Danny wants to drive in together, get some coffee or something. A friendly face feels like something Steve needs right now.

There's Danny's car in the parking lot, so Steve pulls up next to it and parks. He has to knock on Danny's door three times before someone comes to the door. It's not Danny, but a little girl Steve recognizes from her pictures. She's standing there with rumpled hair and wearing PJs, even though school has started already. "Hi, Grace. I'm Steve."

Grace breathes in and her eyes dilate. Huh. Danny never mentioned she was an Alpha. Smile bright, Grace reaches for Steve's hand and takes it, pulling him into the apartment. "Hi, Steve! You're JD's Steve, right? Danno told me about JD."

Steve tells himself he shouldn't be surprised that Danny's daughter is just as intense as him. "Uh, yeah. Nice to meet you."

"You sit here." Grace practically pushes Steve down into the chair near the door. "I'm going to get you a glass of water."

Steve covers his mouth so he doesn't laugh at Grace's antics as she scampers toward the kitchen half of the front room. "Where's your Dad, Grace?"

"Taking a shower," Grace replies, climbing up onto the counter so she can reach a glass from the cupboard. Steve starts to get up to help her, but Grace turns and glares at him until he sits back down. 

Clearing his throat, Steve says, "I'm not sure you should be answering the door without your dad's permission, kiddo."

"He saw you," Grace says, sliding down from the counter and going up on her tiptoes to turn on the kitchen sink. "He said, 'Oh, shit,' and then told me I could answer the door." Grace bounces toward Steve and hands him the glass of water.

Steve chuckles as he takes the glass. "Thank you, Grace." He takes a sip of the water to show her she's done a good job taking care of him. "I thought you were at your mom's house last night."

Grace leans on Steve's shoulder and looks up at Steve with a pained look on her face. "She went into heat."

"Ah," Steve replies. This explains the touchy-feely Alpha behavior from her this morning, even though she just met Steve. Grace must still be feeling residual pheromones from being near her mother. The effect is still strong enough that Grace is able to smell Steve out as an Omega, despite the heavy-duty suppressants he's on. Most Alphas can't.

Danny comes into the room then, dripping wet and a towel around his waist. Steve's mouth goes dry. Danny's body looks just like Steve remembers from three years ago, in the best possible ways.

"Hey, sorry," Danny says, opening the closet in the hallway and pulling out some clothing. "We had a late night."

"No problem," Steve assures him, watching as Danny walks back toward the bathroom. Steve thinks the universe has quite the sense of humor putting that ass on an Alpha. 

Grace snaps Steve out of continuing to stare by asking, "Do you want to see my favorite doll?"

Steve figures he and Danny are probably going to late to the office anyway, so he might as well say yes. "Sure. What's the doll's name?"

As Grace introduces Steve to Diana, he tries not to feel guilty about spending time with a kid who's not JD, while JD is languishing in daycare. He's probably having a great time with his teachers. Steve needs to put it out of his mind.

Danny's just coming back into the room (dressed) when Steve's phone rings. The caller ID says it's the governor calling, so Steve holds up the phone and waves it, telling Danny, "Hurry it up. Looks like we've got a case."

As Steve answers the call, Danny has to practically drag Grace away from Steve. Steve knows the way Grace has taken to him, though adorable, is a little artificial. The next time he meets her, she might not be so friendly. Steve doesn't know why that prospect bothers him so much.

~*~

Mid-afternoon, Danny has to leave to pick up Grace from school. While he's leaving, he asks Steve, "You want me to get JD, too?"

Steve looks at Danny for a long moment, looks back at the rest of the team, and then nods. "Yeah, okay. You'll need the car seat from my truck. Which is still parked at your place."

"Gimme both sets of keys, then, babe," Danny says, holding out his hand. 

As Steve hands over the keys, Chin asks them, "So, how long have you guys been married?"

"Oh, ha, ha," Danny says, wondering when they're going to let their coworkers know about Danny being JD's bio-dad. It's going to come up eventually, right? Addressing Steve, Danny asks, "You wanna call the daycare? Tell them I'm coming to get him?"

"Uh, yeah," Steve says, giving Chin and Kono a look and then taking Danny's elbow to direct him to the side. In a low voice, Steve says, "I already told them you're allowed to pick him up. I'm trusting you not to abuse that power."

Danny wants to scoff, but the look on Steve's face is deadly serious. Danny meets Steve's eyes and gives him a deliberate nod. "I wouldn't do that, Steven. After the way Rachel took Grace and I had to move all the way across the country to see her, I wouldn't do that to you."

After a relieved sigh, Steve says, "No. I know you wouldn't." He nods and squeezes Danny's shoulder briefly. "Go. Get the kids. I'll talk to you in a bit."

Danny gets Grace at her school, fielding the call in the car when Kono asks him a question about the case. They're halfway home when Danny hangs up with Kono and says to Grace, "Since your mother is still indisposed, how would you like to meet JD?"

"Okay!" Grace perks up, though she still has some impressive dark circles under her eyes. He knows her teachers are aware of the current situation, but he hopes the kids weren't too hard on her. If they're anything like when Danny was in school, most of them have Betas for parents, and don't understand what an Omega going into heat really means, especially for the family members around them.

At the daycare, Danny shows his ID and the head teacher brings him to JD's classroom. As soon as JD sees him, the little guy gets a wide smile on his face and cries out, "Danno!" He stands up and runs toward Danny, which is the best thing that's happened to Danny all week.

"Hey, buddy," Danny says, crouching down and giving JD a hug. "I'm gonna bring you home today, alright?"

"Where Daddy?" JD asks, giving Grace a look. 

"Daddy's still at work, but he'll come home for dinner, okay?" Danny tells him. 

JD nods, though his eyes are still wide like he's not sure he understands. "Okay."

"And this is Grace. She's gonna hang out with us today." Grace waves at JD like a maniac.

Burying his head in Danny's shoulder to escape the Grace-onslaught, JD nods. Danny talks to JD's teacher for a moment, making sure he has all of JD's things, and then they're back to the car and heading home.

While they drive, Grace tells JD, "I'm your sister, okay? Can you say sister?"

JD doesn't reply.

"Hey, give him a little space, alright, Monkey?" Danny calls back to his daughter. "JD's not a big fan of strangers."

"But I'm not a stranger, I'm his _sister_ ," she says, like that's going to mean something to a two-year-old.

"Still, just give him some time to warm up, alright?" 

Danny watches in the rearview as Grace sits back on her side of the back seat and crosses her arms over her chest. "Fine."

"Thank you."

Two minutes later, JD says, "Sister," and Grace's squeal of delight just about blows out Danny's eardrums. 

~*~

There's nothing more to do on the case until morning, so Steve gets a ride home with Chin. As they pull up to the house, Chin says, "You know, I think your dad would be really happy you brought your son to live in this house. He'd like it."

"Yeah," Steve says with a sigh. "You know, he only ever got to see pictures of JD. Never quite made it to the mainland for a visit."

"Because of the case he was working on?" Chin asks, putting his car into park, but leaving the engine on. 

Nodding, Steve says, "Yeah, I think so." He thinks about the evidence he found in his father's toolbox and shakes his head. "I mean, my father sent me and my sister to the mainland for our safety. What if I should've done the same for JD?"

"Your father regretted sending you away," Chin insists, nodding intently when Steve gives him a disbelieving look. "He regretted missing out on your life. He wouldn't want the same for you and your son."

Steve takes a moment to mull that thought over. If anyone would know what Dad was thinking, it would be his partner on the force. "Thanks, Chin."

Chin nods. "Now, go on. The husband and kids are waiting for you." Chin smiles at his own joke.

"That's funny," Steve tells Chin in his most deadpan voice. "See you in the morning."

"Goodnight."

The really funny thing is, when Steve lets himself into the house, and sees JD and Grace both sitting at the kitchen table, with Danny cooking dinner, it does feel like coming home to a complete family. Steve just met Grace that morning, he's just starting to really get to know Danny, and he's been living away from his son for most of JD's life. This shouldn't feel as comfortable as it does, and Steve gets a little freaked out by that. 

He makes himself go into the kitchen anyway, greeting JD with a hug, Grace with a wave, and Danny with a hand on his back as Steve asks, "Is there anything I can help with?"

"Sure," Danny says. Steve notices that Danny takes a deep breath as Steve walks by, like he likes the way Steve smells. "Uh, everyone needs drinks."

Steve ignores the slight uptick of his pulse that accompanies the thought of Danny checking in on Steve's scent. That's the sort of thing Alphas with romantic partners do, not Alphas with work-partners and/or platonic co-parents. 

At the dinner table, Grace finishes quickly and then nods off, her head down on the table. JD doesn't eat as much as Steve would like, but Mary says he gets like that sometimes. He'll defer to her judgement on that. 

Once dinner's finished, Danny asks Steve quietly, "Do you mind if I help with JD's bedtime? It's the part of his day I haven't seen yet."

"Don't you want to get Gracie home?" Steve asks in the same low voice, gathering up the dishes. 

Danny looks at his daughter, still asleep at the kitchen table, and says, "Honestly, if I try to move her right now, she's going to bite my head off."

Steve chuckles at the mental image of Grace being mean to anyone. It doesn't seem possible. Of course, Steve has been on the not-great end of JD's tantrums, so he supposes all bets are off when it comes to another of Danny's biological children. 

Steve finishes doing the dishes and gives Danny a chance to figure out the bathtime/bedtime routine with just JD's help. Of course, by the time he gets upstairs, JD is bathed, in clean pajamas, and Danny's reading him a story. 

JD listens intently as Danny speaks, not even noticing when Steve leans against the doorway to JD's room and puts his hands in his pocket. Danny gives Steve a smile, looking like he's having the time of his life, reading a story to their kid.

JD falls asleep shortly after Danny puts him in bed, which is a god damn miracle. As Danny joins Steve outside JD's room, Steve says, "I'm gonna need you to do that every night, Danno."

"Yeah?" Danny smiles, the corners of his eyes wrinkling. "I mean, I could, but you have to learn sometime, Steven."

The air between them feels heavy, like it won't flow into Steve's lungs. Before Steve realizes it's happening, he's halved the distance between himself and Danny. Steve's gut aches, driving him forward without thinking, until he's pressed a soft kiss to Danny's lips. 

Danny inhales loudly through his nose, but instead of backing away, he puts a hand on either side of Steve's face, holding Steve there for another kiss. And another.

Now that it's happening, Steve realizes how intensely he's wanted this, wanted Danny. He wraps his hands around Danny's biceps and steps even closer into Danny's space, kissing harder. 

Danny moves his hands to Steve's hips pulling Steve until Danny's back is against the hallway wall and Steve's pressed flush against the warm bulk of him. Steve sucks Danny's tongue into his mouth. 

All of a sudden, Danny makes a pained noise and pushes Steve away. Steve feels drunk, stumbling over his own feet, and confused. Did Danny just change his mind?

Grace's voice calls from downstairs, "Danno!" 

Steve realizes by the torn, frustrated look on Danny's face that this is why Danny pulled away. It's not because he doesn't want Steve. It's just because Danny has responsibilities. 

"Go," Steve tells Danny with a resigned smile. 

"Yeah," Danny says. He clears his throat and heads down the stairs, readjusting himself in his pants. 

Steve takes a few deep breaths to cool off and does the same thing, following Danny downstairs to see him and Grace off. 

Grace is standing in the living room, disgruntled. Danny puts his arm around her shoulders and says, "C'mon, Monkey. Let's get you home and in bed."

"Okay," she says, leaning against Danny's side. Danny picks her up and she rests her head on his shoulder, asleep again almost instantly. 

Danny heads for the door, but uses his free hand to beckon Steve closer. Steve joins them at the door, completely unsure about how welcome he is now that the moment's been lost. When he gets close, though, Danny reaches up and gently touches under Steve's chin with his fingers. "Hey, to be continued, huh?"

Steve feels like he could grin for a million years. "Yeah." He nods and lets Danny pull him into one last, quick kiss. "Come pick us up in the morning?"

"You got it, babe." 

Steve watches Danny go out to the car and get Grace into it. Once he's done, Danny pauses, looking at Steve for a second. Steve's smile falters. What if Danny's head is starting to clear? What if he's changing his mind? 

Danny must make a decision, because he stalks back up to the house quickly, his smile widening as he walks. "One more for the road," he says, pulling Steve down into a fierce kiss that leaves Steve breathless.

One second Danny's there in Steve's arms, and then the next he's gone, getting into his car and giving Steve a wave before he drives away. Steve watches until the car's out of sight and then he begins the process of shutting down the house for the night. He makes sure all the doors and windows are locked, he checks in on JD, and he gets in bed.

Staring up at the ceiling, Steve thinks he hasn't felt this happy or this full of _hope_ in so long, that it's making him giddy. He laughs to himself, stretching out in his bed and wondering how long it will be before he gets Danny here with him. He makes a bet with himself that it'll be by the end of the week.

Now there's nothing left to do but see if he wins.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [on tumblr](http://pterawaters.tumblr.com/) if you want to say hi.


End file.
